NEWCASTLE v CITY: TEAM NEWS

CITY’s ranks have been boosted over the international break with three senior players returning to full training at Colney.

Gary Hooper (ankle) hasn’t played since the end of August but he's made good progress over the last fortnight and could make the squad for Newcastle.

The same applies to Lewis Grabban (ankle), with Neil saying on Thursday: “Gary’s back in full training, he just lacks games, and Lewis falls into that bracket. They’ll both probably come into contention for the weekend.”

Youssouf Mulumbu is yet to make his competitive debut for the Canaries after breaking his foot in their final pre-season match against Brentford in August, but he won’t be rushed back this weekend despite also joining in full training with the rest of the group.

“We’ll have to monitor Youssouf. It’s important that he can potentially get an Under-21s game under his belt before we reintroduce him to first-team action, but he’s trained for three or four days,” added Neil.

“He came through unscathed, and he’s getting his fitness levels back to a higher level, although to be fair because he got to such a good level before his injury, he’s starting from a good base.”

Wes Hoolahan (heel) missed two training sessions while on international duty with Republic of Ireland but he’s ready to feature against the Magpies.

Neil confirmed a clean bill of health for the remainder of his squad ahead of Sunday’s game (4pm).